


Eddie's Extraordinary Playlist

by Basilintime



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Eddie hears people sing their feelings, F/M, Lots of Music, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Neurological Disorders, Past Abuse, Past Violence, Sex, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist AU, is it magic? or is it hallucinations?, messy relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:42:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24030745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basilintime/pseuds/Basilintime
Summary: Eddie Kaspbrak runs a tech firm with his two best friends, Beverly Marsh and Stan Uris. Every morning he's greeted with the aggravatingly loud music of his neighbor, Richie, who Eddie finds to be both obnoxious and extremely attractive.When Eddie goes to get an MRI only for it to be interrupted by an earthquake, he suddenly founds the world overall has gotten a lot more musical.Will Eddie figure out what this new ability is? Is it a hallucination or has he been given the chance to hear the inner workings of the people around him?
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Patricia Blum Uris/Stanley Uris
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	Eddie's Extraordinary Playlist

**Author's Note:**

  * For [princessDameron](https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessDameron/gifts).



> Songs from this Chapter:
> 
> The song that Eddie hears everyone singing walking back home is "We built This City" by Starship found [here](https://youtu.be/K1b8AhIsSYQ)
> 
> The song he hears Richie sing when he gets home is "Please Leave A Light On When You Go" by fun. found [here](https://youtu.be/lh6nVahlhWQ)

Every morning, Eddie had the false hope that this time he’d be able to sleep in until his alarm went off without interruption. Every morning, Eddie’s dreams were literally dashed by the sudden blast of music from his next-door neighbor’s apartment. 

This morning it was the sound of something with a quick beat as Richie’s voice melded with the voice of the female singer. It literally sounded like the eighties being blasted through their walls and Eddie cursed loudly as he tried to shut it out by pressing a pillow over his head. He knew it was futile though as a few seconds later the sounds of his neighbor’s morning singing routine was joined by the beep of his alarm. 

Eddie threw the pillow at the wall that joined his apartment with Richie’s. The gentle thud was hardly satisfying enough as he hit dismiss on the alarm and climbed out of bed. He stomped through his apartment, not in the mood to put up with this today or all days. The music somehow got quieter when he stepped out into the hall but he could still hear its reverb as he knocked on Richie’s door. 

He hardly waited for a few seconds before he knocked again even louder. The door suddenly swung open and Eddie stared at Richie for a few moments as he stood in front of him in sweatpants and nothing else. 

“Spagheds! I should have known it was you by your angry little knock. What’s up?” Richie gave him a grin and Eddie remembered why he didn’t confront him more often. Richie was a lot of things. Annoying. Loud and frustrating to no end. Funny. Big. Broad. Hot. There had been a pause in the music as the changed and suddenly there was something that Eddie could only call ‘country club’ playing as a guy sang about taking a horse somewhere. 

“Turn your fucking music down, asshole.” Eddie blurted the words out as he flipped Richie and turned abruptly on his heel to start back towards his apartment. He heard Richie’s bark of laughter as he stomped back to his door. Before he was even inside, he heard the music suddenly cut off and breathed a sigh of relief. 

That relief was short lived when he heard the knock at his door. His impulse was to be quiet and hope that the person knocking would think he wasn’t home. There was no way that method was going to work given he knew the person knocking was Richie. 

“Sorry about that, Eds! You know I get carried away with my music. Mitski just gets me, what can I say? I’ll keep it down.” Richie called through the door and Eddie pursed his lips as he debated opening it again. He took too long to decide though as he heard Richie’s door open and close again. A few seconds later, the music started once more but at a much more manageable and quiet level. 

Eddie gave a sigh of relief as he moved to get ready for the day. He needed to get going a little earlier than normal. 

*

“Eddie, you’re here early.” 

He’d been sitting at his desk alone in the office for the most part for the last twenty minutes but people were starting to filter in now for the day. He looked up as Stan stepped into his office with a light rap of his knuckles on the door frame. Stan was probably Eddie’s oldest friend; they had started up their tech firm with Bev several years ago and had found it to be an unexpected success. Well, success in relative terms compared to what they thought it would turn into. 

“Have an appointment later. I’m going to be leaving early so I wanted to get a head start on reviewing the code since we’re still having problems with the interface.” 

“Have the migraines still been bad?” Stan’s brow creased in concern as he came to sit down across the desk from him. Their team was moving into the larger space of the office outside; their coders and technical engineers grabbing coffees and greeting each other. 

“Yeah, the doctor doesn’t think it’s anything more than stress but...you know.” Eddie sighed as he leaned back in his chair for a moment. He saw Bev step off the elevator with a few perspectives that would be interviewing for a new position they’d just opened up. The three of them were walking quickly to keep up with Bev as she made eye contact with him and rolled her eyes. 

Eddie smirked a little as he watched her move to deposit them all at the empty desks that, if they were lucky, they’d reside at for the next few months. 

“Having fun with the potential new hires, Bev?” Stan asked the question even as he offered her a chair to sit in. She collapsed in it with an exhausted look on her face. 

“Where do these guys come from? One of them just tried to explain back to me what object-oriented programming was like he was speaking to a five year old. Another started asking me for tips on how to sweet talk my boss and made a comment about how it’d sure be nice to have a receptionist like me around.” Bev turned sharply in her chair so she could catch the door with her toe and push it closed. 

“Those two are out then. Which one’s were they?” 

“No. I want to see how they interview when they realize the ‘receptionist’ is going to be one of their head bosses. Now, what were we talking about before I got here?” Bev swung back to face them both; lifted her legs so that her feet came to rest in Stan’s lap as she settled back into place.

“Eddie’s still getting the migraines.” Stan said without reacting to Bev using him as a footrest. 

“That’s right. You’re getting your MRI today. Do you need anyone to go with you?” Bev gave him a concerned frown and both of them settled their gaze on him expectantly. Eddie sighed but shook his head in response.

“No, I’ll be fine. I’ll be leaving a little early so I can make my appointment. All I really need is more coffee and to know which one of those fucking morons assumed it was appropriate to make suggestive comments to you first thing in the morning.”

“Oh, Eddie’s in one of _those_ moods.” Bev grinned at him and he marveled at the fact that anyone could look at her and doubt she knew more than them. 

“My fucking neighbor woke me up to his shitty music again so I’m definitely in one of those moods.” 

“Is this the neighbor with the _broad shoulders?_ ” 

“The one that’s _tall as a tree_?” Bev and Stan both waggled their eyebrows at him in sync as if they had planned it. He felt his face flush with a touch of heat at their comments. He’d maybe talked about Richie before and it might not have been all complaints about how obnoxious he was. 

Clearly, choosing to trust them with the knowledge had been a mistake. 

“Bev, be a dear and grab me some coffee,” Eddie said with exaggerated sarcasm. Stan winced like he’d just dug his own grave as Bev gave him a sharper smile; tongue pressed momentarily against the back of her teeth as she reigned in whatever comment had come to her mind. 

“Oh, of course, sir. How silly of me to forget Mr. Kaspbrak’s coffee! Should I bring the first interviewee in for Mr. Uris and you when I bring it to you?” Bev spoke in a breathy voice, raising her tone up an octave as she gave him the look of a scandalized 1950’s housewife. 

“If you don’t mind, dear.” Even just saying it made Eddie curdle a little on the inside and he scrunched his nose up in distaste despite doing his best to keep a straight face. Bev gave him a playful wink as she dropped her feet down from Stan’s lap to sit up a bit straighter. 

“Absolutely, sir. Right away, sir.” 

“You’re always such a doll, Marsh.” Bev held a hand up close to her chest where it was hidden from sight outside of the office as she flipped him off with that same exaggerated smile on her face. 

“And what about you, Mr. Uris?” 

“Please, leave me out of this weird roleplay you two have before crushing some asshole’s hopes and dreams. I prefer to act like the reasonable one of the three of us.” Stan laughed softly but shook his head at the two of them. Bev leaned over to press a chaste kiss to Stan’s cheek as Eddie got up from his desk. He really did need coffee if he was going to deal with a couple of coders who had chips on their shoulders. 

“Do either of you want anything while I’m out there?” Eddie side-stepped around his desk while looking out at the group of potential employees. He felt like he could pick out the two that had made the comments to Bev. They were likely the two talking more boisterously together as the third sat quietly. He seemed to be listening to whatever was being discussed but the look on his face seemed to signal he didn’t really appreciate it. 

“I’m good, honest. I need to cut back on caffeine anyway.” Eddie looked at Stan as he shook his head and then gave Bev a questioning look. 

“I would love a cup if you don’t mind, Eddie.” 

“Got it. Which one assumed you were the secretary?”

“The one on the right…”

Eddie gave a soft nod of his head as it was confirmed he was correct on at least one of them. He opened the door and turned to give Bev a wink as he spoke loudly enough that it would carry to the group. 

“I’ll send the first one in, ma’am.” Bev’s smile blossomed on her face as Stan rolled his eyes. 

*

“Alright, just do your best not to move. This will take about forty-five minutes.” Eddie watched the ceiling be replaced with the interior of the MRI machine as the technician let him know the instructions that he already knew. He’d read up extensively on what getting an MRI would be like before coming just as he already knew his risk factors of developing the disease that had taken his father when he was younger. 

Eddie had been too young back then to fully understand what had happened. He’d made up stories about how something had come and stolen his dad in the middle of the night only to replace him with a double. There had been changes in mood, loss of mobility and eventually his father had slipped away into a silent being who seemed beyond reach. When he’d finally passed away, Eddie’s mother had treated him as fragile and convinced him that he had to be careful and cautious in the world. That he might get swept away too by some invisible being. 

He was older now though and understood that it would be a rare occurrence for him to develop PSP like his father. There was no confirmed genetic link but there also wasn’t a great understanding of what caused it. 

So, when Eddie had started getting migraines more frequently, he’d decided it would be better to get checked for any sign of a problem. An MRI was a small price to pay for some reassurance. Maybe not as small of a price as he’d like given he was well aware he’d be getting a bill for a portion of this in a month or two. They always waited just long enough that you almost forgot that you should be expecting it. 

“Do you have any preference on music?” 

“No, no music.” Eddie shook his head, adamantly not wanting to be subjected to whatever this guy considered music. He had enough of that from his neighbor. 

“Hold still please.” The voice reprimanded him and music kicked on as the machine came alive around him. Eddie tried very hard not to move as he gave a sigh. 

He’d tried his best to just close his eyes and lay there. He had hoped that he could maybe get some rest after the long day since all he was supposed to be doing was lying there but he was too aware of the need not to move to really drift at all. If he moved, they’d have to start over again. He wished the guy would turn the damn music off. 

Something made the room shake and Eddie’s eyes flew open as he laid there. There was a beeping like there was an error and he felt a small spike of panic. He was about to give up and ask what the hell was going on when a tremor started to shake the building once more. This time it came with full force as the room shook, the sound of objects falling to the floor as Eddie tried to brace himself inside. His ears rang and his head felt full of pressure as the MRI machine seemed to lose power and then kick back on again. 

The music seemed to increase in volume with the rumbling of the room before everything just fell silent as suddenly as it had started. Eddie laid there, hands pressed against the sides of the MRI as the lights flickered back on and some sense of normalcy was restored. He heard the MRI technician cursing in quiet awe outside.

“Can you get me the fuck out of here?” Eddie yelled to make sure the guy heard him. Tried to shift down on the plastic fucking slab they had him on to get free himself. 

“Sorry, sorry. Come on, yeah, fuck. That was something, wasn’t it? I think we’re going to have to reschedule your MRI. Obviously that scan isn’t going to be much use.” The tech joked as he came and helped pull Eddie loose, hands seeming to check that he was alright even as Eddie knocked them away. He was suddenly pulled into a hug by the MRI tech and he stood stock still. 

“Do you fucking mind? I really don’t like hugging complete fucking strangers after having my life flash before my eyes in an MRI machine.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. Sorry. Just…ha, that was kind of scary, huh?” The tech pulled away from him and Eddie gave him a tight smile. 

“Yeah, so, rescheduling?”

“Right.”

*

He had finally escaped the hospital which still seemed to be in a state of chaos. The earthquake hadn’t been that bad of one but there was clearly an influx of people coming in with minor injuries. Eddie was relieved that the hospital wasn’t far from home for him. It had been a ten-minute walk but he was only a couple of blocks away from his apartment building now. His head was still pounding but he’d been reassured several times that it was likely incidental and not a side effect of the MRI/earthquake combination. 

He stopped at a crosswalk to wait for the light to change. A few others were standing around him and somewhere Eddie could hear music playing loudly. 

“We built this city…” The man besides him sang the words quietly and Eddie gave him a frown. Turned to look at the woman next to him in hopes he wasn’t the only one who thought the guy was a bit off. 

“We built this city on rock and roll.” The woman started to sing as well, her and the man joining in together as the music seemed to swell up around them. Eddie stared in horror as no one else seemed to react to the two of them. The light changed and Eddie got swept forward with the group to cross as even more people around him started to sing. And, even worse, dance. 

Eddie scurried off to one side once he was across the street to avoid continuing to get rushed along with the group. They were all singing now, to each other and to him, and Eddie closed his eyes tightly. 

“You’re hallucinating. The entire block has not lost its mind; you are just hallucinating. You’re stressed because of this whole fucking mess. People are not singing and dancing.” Eddie muttered the words quietly to himself as he stood with his back pressed against the building. He took a few deep breaths, tried to steady himself before he opened his eyes again only to see even more people had joined in. 

The original man and woman came up on either side of him and pulled him into the flow of the dance down along the street. Eddie walked fast, dodged around the people who were dancing as he tried to keep moving at a quick pace. He was trying to reach the next crosswalk before the light changed but it was already flashing the seconds until it switched to ‘Do not walk’. 

Maybe he was having a stroke. Was this what having a stroke was like? He needed to get back to his place and call an ambulance or Stan or something. Someone to help him figure out what the hell was happening. 

The walk sign settled on ‘Do not walk’ and Eddie cursed under his breath as he stopped so the car could move through the intersection. Even the drivers were singing; motioning out their windows as they caused a traffic jam as they sat and leaned out of their windows. Eddie took a deep breath as it got to be too much and pushed himself forward as he hurried across the intersection against the light. He got to the other side and breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look back as the song wrapped up with a fade out as fewer and fewer voices repeated the titular phrase of ‘we built this city’. 

Eddie stopped as he prepared himself to make the next block but then the music just ended. Someone behind him honked their car horn angrily and Eddie startled as he turned to look behind him. 

“You got a fucking death wish, moron! Look before you cross the street, will ya!” The guy shouted at him and Eddie flipped him off before he started down the sidewalk. He forced himself not to run, just barely keeping to a fast-paced walk, as he rushed the rest of the way home. 

Eddie heard a few notes of a song as he started up the steps to his building and rushed inside as fast as he could. Pushed the door closed behind him and stood in the entry way for a few moments in silence. 

It was the migraine. They could cause auditory and visual hallucinations if they were bad enough and maybe being stuck in a tube like a goddamn hotdog in a microwave during an earthquake had aggravated him enough. Raise his blood pressure or something. Eddie opened his eyes, kept his back pressed against the door and lifted both of his arms up into the arm. He didn’t struggle with it, neither of them seemed weak or out of his control. He smiled, wide and exaggerated as he caught his reflection in the mirror their landlord had placed down there that Eddie was about 99% certain was two-way and meant as a ‘security’ device. 

His smile was even and he breathed a sigh of relief. That was it. That was all it was. A hallucination brought on by an intense migraine caused by the raise in his blood pressure. Either that or an elaborate prank or a flash mob that hadn’t been deterred by the whole ground shaking thing. Eddie decided that either of those options were more acceptable for his blood pressure than to consider otherwise. 

He moved up the stairs finally and away from the outside world. He would need to check that nothing of his had been damaged by the earthquake. He typically made certain everything was secure, just in case, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something that had been a little too close to the edge of a shelf or shaken loose by the magnitude of it. 

As he reached the top of the stairs, he heard a voice drifting quietly on its own from the door next to his. He froze and stared at Richie’s door for a few seconds, afraid that he was proved wrong in it being a one-time thing. 

_How fast can a heart shatter_

_Before you’re walking on splinters?_

_Your head aches just to feel what it knows_

_Please leave a light on when you go_

The tune was quieter and sadder than he was used to hearing from Richie. Eddie stood there for a little while longer with a soft frown on his face and feelings that bordered on concerned. He shook himself out of it when he heard Richie’s door unlock and he quickly headed to his own as he pulled his key out of his pocket. 

“Hey there, Spagheds. You just getting in?” Richie stepped out of his apartment before Eddie could manage to retreat into his own. 

“Yeah, I had an appointment after work and then with the quake happening.” Eddie got his door unlocked but felt rude now just walking away now.

“That was a fucking doozy, wasn’t it? I was in the middle of fucking your mom and I thought maybe I had actually made her come for once.” 

“Oh, fuck you,” Eddie said, any concern about being rude gone as he flipped Richie a finger. It was an old joke, one that Richie never seemed to get tired of. Eddie heard his laughter as he stepped into his apartment and let the door slam closed behind him. His head gave a complaint at the sound of it but at least he was safely home in his own apartment now. 

“Night Eddie.” He heard Richie call after him, some of that humor gone from his voice. 

“Bye Richie.” Eddie responded with a sigh as he heard Richie’s footsteps start down the stairs. He pursed his lips as he finally reached behind him to re-lock his door; felt exhausted and at the end of his rope from the day. 

He just needed sleep and then he could forget this whole mess of a day had happened.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my little AU and, as always, comments are forever appreciated. <3
> 
> This one's dedicated to Bucky for discussing the idea with me a few months back on Twitter. <3


End file.
